Review by Choice Review
Bowen examines corruption among the postwar Japanese leadership and in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has dominated Japanese politics from its inception in 1955 to this day. The author attributes the corruption to the cultural and structural consequences of paternalism (hereditary inheritance of parliament seats) and personalism (personal connections). Bowen correctly notes that the fusion of power between politicians and bureaucrats (which solidified the structural corruption) was accelerated by Yoshida Shigeru, as opposed to Hatoyama Ichiro, who did not co-opt bureaucrats. This point raises an interesting question as to how the state of Japan's politics would have been different today had Hatoyama ruled in the first postwar decade, instead of Yoshida. Bowen also reviews the debate on "bureaucratic" versus "pluralist" model in the literature of Japanese politics. The author notes an important phenomenon in the increasing number of hereditary members in Japanese Diet--which accelerates political decay--and sees a parallel to American politics in the emergence of the Bush family. Although the book reviews postwar Japanese leadership in a condensed fashion (chapter 3), overall it is a very interesting study of the postwar Japanese leadership and the LDP. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels. M. Itoh University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
